Social Media for Writers

Social media (a term which I hate, though that is irrelevant to the discussion at hand) has affected me in a number of interesting ways. For example, the vast majority of my non-face-to-face communication takes place via social media. It’s a great source of news, especially for gaining a viewpoint that differs from your own (so long as you have friends with different viewpoints). It opens a number of interesting doors for artistic ventures, running the gambit from exhibition to collaboration. Recently though, I’ve been thinking about how social media has affected me as a writer. There are three specific social media outlets (all of which fall primarily under the subcategory of social networking) that have done this in large and specific ways.

Does anyone remember Xanga? I certainly do. It was the very first blogging website that I ever used. When I first started, I posted a lot. By a lot, I mean three to ten times a day. Most of my post would range from a few words to three sentences. People would read and comment, for some reason caring about what I had for dinner or the odd conversation I had in a hallway.

Fast forward a few weeks. I’m sitting outside a building talking to two friends, both of whom also use Xanga and all three of us currently wearing ripped jeans. Dr. Paul Fink*, on the north side of seventy-years-old, walks past us, referring to us as the “council of the ungodly,” a reference to Psalm 1. Each of the three of us would go back home (whether that be dorm or apartment) to write about this experience, with that night bringing us to reading all three tales of the encounter. My mind was blown by the sheer differences in the details – three entirely different stories of the same encounter, each one true in every way. Mind_blown: perspectives! People see things differently! Everyone brings different details and says things differently. Sometimes there is not a right and a wrong way to say something.

And then there was Twitter. I use Twitter a lot less than I used to. I simply found that I was spending too much time reading tweets and not enough time reading books. I stopped for a while, and have now resumed in moderation. Occasionally I search Twitter for writing related topics and tweet @people. I don’t know if anyone has ever encountered my blog because of this. I always post links to every post. I assume this is how Chris first ended up at my blog.

But this is mere authorial promotion. I’m talking about writing. And I often write rather verbosely. I had a teacher in college who said, “I can’t write my name in less than 20 pages.” I’m finding myself moving more and more toward that. Twitter, however, limits me. I have 140 characters. How can I express this thought in 140 characters? Throughout my time on Twitter I’ve had to learn to make this work – these days, 140 characters is plenty.

Finally we have the relative newcomer at the party: Google+. Google already owns every other aspect of my internet usage, so why not? G+ is interesting in that connection does not require mutual approval like a Facebook friendship. Resultantly, connections are only one-way. If I share something publicly on G+, it appears in the stream of anyone who has put me in a circle, whether I know they are looking or not. However, I place people in circles, and then I can share with only that circle. Every time that I post I have to ask, “To whom do I want this to be shown?” Perhaps it’s public. Perhaps not. I have a circle for coworkers, a circle for church friends, a circle for family, a circle for a core group of dudes (called “Dudebros”), and so on. Though this has been an option before, G+ is the first place to make this work.

Every time I write, I now ask myself the same question: to whom is this directed? I address a five-year-old differently than I address my doctor. Writing should be no different. Audience changes everything.

Social media has its share of detractors. It also has its problems. This being said, we must never forget that it also has a great deal of value.

*How does Dr. Fink not have a Wikipedia page?

Social media (a term which I hate, though that is irrelevant to the discussion at hand) has affected me in a number of interesting ways. For example, the vast majority of my non-face-to-face communication takes place via social media. It’s a great source of news, especially for gaining a viewpoint that differs from your own (so long as you have friends with different viewpoints). It opens a number of interesting doors for artistic ventures, running the gambit from exhibition to collaboration. Recently though, I’ve been thinking about how social media has affected me as a writer. There are three specific social media outlets (all of which fall primarily under the subcategory of social networking) that have done this in large and specific ways.

Does anyone remember Xanga? I certainly do. It was the very first blogging website that I ever used. When I first started, I posted a lot. By a lot, I mean three to ten times a day. Most of my post would range from a few words to three sentences. People would read and comment, for some reason caring about what I had for dinner or the odd conversation I had in a hallway.

Fast forward a few weeks. I’m sitting outside a building talking to two friends, both of whom also use Xanga and all three of us currently wearing ripped jeans. Dr. Paul Fink*, on the north side of seventy-years-old, walks past us, referring to us as the “council of the ungodly,” a reference to Psalm 1. Each of the three of us would go back home (whether that be dorm or apartment) to write about this experience, with that night bringing us to reading all three tales of the encounter. My mind was blown by the sheer differences in the details – three entirely different stories of the same encounter, each one true in every way. Mind_blown: perspectives! People see things differently! Everyone brings different details and says things differently. Sometimes there is not a right and a wrong way to say something.

And then there was Twitter. I use Twitter a lot less than I used to. I simply found that I was spending too much time reading tweets and not enough time reading books. I stopped for a while, and have now resumed in moderation. Occasionally I search Twitter for writing related topics and tweet @people. I don’t know if anyone has ever encountered my blog because of this. I always post links to every post. I assume this is how Chris first ended up at my blog.

But this is mere authorial promotion. I’m talking about writing. And I often write rather verbosely. I had a teacher in college who said, “I can’t write my name in less than 20 pages.” I’m finding myself moving more and more toward that. Twitter, however, limits me. I have 140 characters. How can I express this thought in 140 characters? Throughout my time on Twitter I’ve had to learn to make this work – these days, 140 characters is plenty.

Finally we have the relative newcomer at the party: Google+. Google already owns every other aspect of my internet usage, so why not? G+ is interesting in that connection does not require mutual approval like a Facebook friendship. Resultantly, connections are only one-way. If I share something publicly on G+, it appears in the stream of anyone who has put me in a circle, whether I know they are looking or not. However, I place people in circles, and then I can share with only that circle. Every time that I post I have to ask, “To whom do I want this to be shown?” Perhaps it’s public. Perhaps not. I have a circle for coworkers, a circle for church friends, a circle for family, a circle for a core group of dudes (called “Dudebros”), and so on. Though this has been an option before, G+ is the first place to make this work.

Every time I write, I now ask myself the same question: to whom is this directed? I address a five-year-old differently than I address my doctor. Writing should be no different. Audience changes everything.

Social media has its share of detractors. It also has its problems. This being said, we must never forget that it also has a great deal of value.

*How does Dr. Fink not have a Wikipedia page?

Social Media for Writers